Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The "Say Red" Story

The "shiva" week is over;
we arose from mourning on Tuesday morning, and went to visit Ricki's grave to daven
(pray) and recite Psalms.

It has been a very strange week to say the
least. All but two of my sons and one step daughter were able to be with us for
the week. We looked at old photo albums, and reminisced about Ricki. We even
laughed about some of her lighter moments. Our favorite story was the "Say
'RED'" story:

Once (when
Ricki was quite young) the older boys were entertaining themselves by cassette-taping
other family members. When Ricki's turn arrived, they coached her: "Say 'Adom'
(red) " She wasn't interested. After all, what was in it for her?

They repeated
themselves over and over:

-"Say 'Adom'
"

-"Say 'Adom'
"

-"Say
'Adom' "

"LO adom!!!!!!"
("NOT red!") was the inevitable reply.

That was the
first time she said two words together.

I was amazed at the number of people who paid
condolence calls: former classmates of Ricki from the years she had been
mainstreamed (some on the verge of tears), former and present teachers, therapists,
neighbors, storeowners from the area, and fellow parents. These were all in
addition to regular neighbors and friends. Several people arrived from out of
town (including several readers of this blog, who I met in person for the first
time).

In addition, it was interesting, like
rewinding the cassette of Ricki's life, to have people who I had not seen for
12 or 15 years come walking out of the mists of the past to acknowledge the
effect this spunky kid had made on their lives. It was humbling to realize how
big an effect she had made on others (though we had traveled along with her,
largely unaware).

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A description of this blog

This blog is basically a diary, journal, and notes of observations. In the past it dealt mostly with the topics of special needs, especially a real view of what life is like with (and for) a teen with Down syndrome. However, since Ricki's death in August 2012, at age 17, the amount of blogging on the subject of "special needs" has decreased. Additional topics are interpersonal relationships, life in Israel, and dieting. (I have lost 75 kilos...)(And no, I did NOT have weight-loss surgery....) Also an occasional get-on-a-soapbox-and-tell-it-like-it-is personal opinion.

Great Resources on Down Syndrome

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